Recycled Pulsars: Spins, Masses and Ages

Abstract

Recycled pulsars are mainly characterized by their spin periods, B-fields and masses. All these quantities are affected by previous interactions with a companion star in a binary system. Therefore, we can use these quantities as fossil records and learn about binary evolution. Here, I briefly review the distribution of these observed quantities and summarize our current understanding of the pulsar recycling process.Comment: Brief summary of invited review talk @ MODEST-16. 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in: "Cosmic-Lab: Star Clusters as Cosmic Laboratories for Astrophysics, Dynamics and Fundamental Physics", F.R Ferraro & B. Lanzoni eds, Mem. SAIt, Vol 87, n.